Eagle Lauded With an Eye Toward Future

The American bald eagle, once near extinction, has made such a strong comeback that it will be removed next year from the endangered species list, President Clinton announced Friday.

“It’s hard to think of a better way to celebrate the birth of a nation than to celebrate the rebirth of our national symbol,” Clinton said at a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House on the eve of the Independence Day weekend.

As Clinton spoke, a 10-year-old bald eagle, raised in captivity and named Challenger, perched on a flag-draped crossbar, occasionally screeching as the president addressed a crowd of conservationists.

At the time of the nation’s founding, half a million or so bald eagles soared over the skies of North America. But hunters and the widespread use of the pesticide DDT by farmers nearly wiped out the species earlier in this century, destroying its habitats and crippling its reproductive capabilities.

By 1963, only 417 breeding pairs were left in the continental United States. The eagle was declared endangered in 1967.

The banning of DDT in 1972 and passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973 helped spark a dramatic recovery of the bald eagle.

In addition, Clinton noted, “people all across our nation banded together to guard nest sites, to nurse injured birds, like our friend Challenger here, back to health.”

Four years ago, the bald eagle’s status was upgraded from “endangered” to “threatened.”

Now, with nearly 5,800 breeding pairs counted--in all but two of the Lower 48 states--the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed Friday that the eagle be declared “fully recovered,” with final action a year from now.

Described by Thomas Jefferson as “a free spirit, high-soaring and courageous,” the bald eagle became America’s living symbol in 1782, when the Continental Congress selected it for the Great Seal of the United States, which depicts the bird with its wings stretched wide, an olive branch in one claw and 13 arrows in the other.

Since 1978, 21 other species, including the American alligator and the gray whale, have been removed from the endangered species list, Clinton said.

Eight others, including the peregrine falcon, are now proposed for “de-listing.”

“The return of the bald eagle is a fitting cap to a century of environmental stewardship,” Clinton said.

The counting of bald eagles is done by Fish and Wildlife personnel, assisted by binoculars-toting volunteers throughout the country, according to an agency official.